Fall 2017: FitSpirit is planning an information video to show who we are and kick off our major fundraising campaign in late November. The team sits down for a quick chat with François Tremblay and Frédérique Gaudet of Luminance Studio to chart the best course.

The objectives? Raise awareness about the problem of young girls giving up sports at adolescence, and educate the greatest possible number of people about the importance of young women’s health in Canada, so the three FitSpirit calls to action—Participate, Get Involved and Give—ring out loud and clear.

“Looking around the table, it was almost exclusively girls, so François felt like a bit of an outsider. But his distinct perspective was a definite asset during filming,” says Frédérique Gaudet, content advisor. The discussion was heated and fun: everyone had their two cents to put in. But aligning the shared values of Luminance and FitSpirit was the easy part: the chemistry was there from the start. Luminance works primarily with video to create high-social-impact content. “We see video as the ideal medium for mobilizing people and fostering meaningful dialogue between the public, organizations and businesses,” explains Frédérique.

A concept takes shape
It didn’t take long for the agency to come back with the idea of showcasing three charismatic FitSpirit spokespeople, each of whom would share a letter from a teenage girl relating her own experience and embodying one of the three FitSpirit calls to action. Game on!

Choosing the right spokespeople fell in place naturally. First there was official FitSpirit spokesperson Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, who addressed Participating. Then Isabelle Charest, annual patron, talked about Getting Involved, while FitSpirit founder and president Claudine Labelle took on Giving. For the participants’ side of the story, FitSpirit called on École Secondaire Mont-Royal. The three videos capture some of the obstacles young girls face around physical activity, and how to get the encouragement they need so FitSpirit can have a positive impact in their life—in a nutshell, the FitSpirit effect!

Building community over two days of filming
The Luminance team was overwhelmed by the warm welcome they got from students at École Secondaire Mont-Royal, where they filmed. “The girls who welcomed us sang the praises of FitSpirit activities, helped us set up our equipment and treated Sophie Grégoire Trudeau like a rock star!” Frédérique enthused. “It was an amazing experience, and seeing the gang of girls rally together around a great cause in such a short time was a memorable team-building experience.”

Isabelle Charest added an unscripted, heartfelt emotional element that was a definite highlight. “Isabelle prides herself on always being in full control of her emotions, but she was caught off guard by the second half of the letter from her correspondent, a touching personal account of the FitSpirit effect,” recalls Frédérique Gaudet. And who could forget that magic moment when the three letter-writers got to meet Sophie Grégoire Trudeau and Claudine Labelle in the flesh?

Luminance Studio and its many collaborators appreciated how the contents of student letters were kept secret from FitSpirit spokespeople, key to ensuring the videos captured the raw emotion at the moment of truth. Mission accomplished: the three videos speak eloquently to the power of FitSpirit, and the sensitivity of Sophie, Isabelle and Claudine comes through wonderfully. The picture-perfect ambiance at École Secondaire Mont-Royal coupled with the moving testimonials of participants and the synergy of the entire group colours each of these emotionally charged videos.

Heartfelt thanks
FitSpirit would like to extend its sincere thanks to the following organizations and individuals who made vital contributions to the success of this great adventure: